Focal Character Mix and Match

[Oddish]

Geordi seems to have a been a victim of the old, rather tired saw that nice guys always come last

Sounds about right. But then, does any TNG character have a successful romantic life? I mean, Worf, girlfriend died and then widowed. Geordi, rejected right and left. Picard, lifelong bachelor. Tasha, Romulan sex slave. Beverly, shagged a ghost who wasn't a ghost. Data, "In Theory", nuff said. Wesley, ran off with the Traveler. Riker and Troi were the sole successes and they took over ten years to get around to tying the knot. Final score 22.2% success.

 

[gakelly]

loud as a whisper- Worf
The Price- Worf
Hollow Pursuits- Worf
I just think those would end up being ridiculously funny

 

[Mojochi]

Since we're on a Geordi kick, can anyone think of a romantic episode, other than the aforementioned The Outcast, where Geordi could have worked better than the character who was actually the focus of it?[/USER]

Oh... sure thing. In Masterpiece Society, I actually liked the connection that Geordi was making with their scientist, waaaay better than the one between Troi & the administrator, which seemed fairly contrived to me.

 

[Farscape One]

Interesting thread premise. And a fun one.

I will say that "Parallels" works best BECAUSE it's Worf. Out of all the leads, with the exception of Troi, he's the only one without any kind of science or exploration background. And Troi, being the psychologist, would notice the changes far more quickly and it would make the episode drag more because it will be more about finding the solution than trying to discover the problem.

I like the idea of either Wesley or Data for "Shades Of Gray" that was posted by different people. All your arguments make a lot of sense.


I have been thinking about it, and one episode that can immediately get better with just a slight shift in character focus is "The Masterpiece Society".

While the concept was okay, the episode was very boring. What would help immensely is simply alter the character focus... make it less about Troi's romance and more about Geordi. There was more meat in that story between him and Hannah than Troi and Connor. A lot of good scenes could have happened as they talk more about how adjusting to birth defects can actually improve lives vs. filtering them out before birth. It would also very much tie into how Hannah ended up wanting to leave... she herself asked if they were so smart, why didn't they invent transporters, warp drive, etc?

 

[Mojochi]

I'm noticing more & more that nobody thinks any episodes would be improved by switching the focal character to Beverly lol

I'm seriously trying to find one example where it might've been nice had it featured Bev instead of whoever... & failing. I dunno, maybe her instead of Riker in 11001001? Maybe the Binars could've needed the command officer for codes & the CMO for medical assistance. So she could be the one captivated by a holodeck creation.... That could've worked maybe

Just trying my damnedest here lol

 

[WarpTenLizard]

Replace Worf with Guinan in “Parallels”. But the focus is on the alternate lives of Tasha Yar and what she could be like after 7 seasons of TNG (Captain Yar, Counsellor Yar, Chief of Security Yar, Maquis Yar, Yar in the universe where the Borg took over, etc), as a callback to the end of “Yesterday’s Enterprise” when Guinan asked Geordi about her.

I love this idea! But if the focus is Yar, why not have the main character be...Yar. From another universe, obviously.

Open the episode with a bizarro Enterprise where Yar is still alive. But as the viewer tries to figure out if this is a flashback, or time-travel or what-not, slowly reveal other "off" details (Worf wears a crest instead of a sash; Picard has a bit more hair; and the uniforms look different, in a way the viewer wouldn't instantly notice, until a few close-up shots) laying the groundwork for the reveal that this is a parallel universe. Then, that Tasha falls into the anomaly, and we follow her journey through all the possibilities, including the "main" universe where she's dead.

..Schisms, as that's not a Crusher episode per se, but more of an ensemble piece - something the series definitely needed more of - and not really a medical mystery, though it had medical aspects. Maybe you've gotten your episodes crossed? Certainly not gonna argue that Nurse Ogawa deserved some time in the sun, though. ]

I might not have been too clear about this idea. I know that Crusher isn't the main character in the real episode. I guess my point was, make an episode that's focused on the main cast as usual end up with a minor recurring character saving the day.

I've never pulled harder for anyone than for Geordi to overcome his bad Trek PR, but they wrote his character that way, which is a damn shame...

He was otherwise so confident, likable, and brave - recalling The Enemy (S3 E7) here - so I'm at a loss as to why he'd be portrayed as such a doofus with women.

Don't forget that TNG was from a different era of television, the era of "episodic" shows. Sure, there's some character development over the course of the seven seasons, but I don't think ongoing character arcs were in the minds of the TNG writers most of the time. It was just, "Riker is the lady-killer; Geordie is the nerd." And of course, in the 1980s and '90s, things now considered creepy and incel-ish were just cliche rom-com hijinks.[/USER]

 

[CuriousCaitian]

@Oddish - Sadly very true, and I imagine the justification for that situation would be "there's no drama in happy relationships". A simplistic, flawed and rather annoying attitude, for me. Give a relationship enough depth, enough substance, and all manner of possibilties open up.

@gakelly - One thing I will say for Worf, he's an ideal fish out of water. Of the episodes you suggest, The Price is the one that grabs me the most, if only for the image of Worf decking Ral; I'm not normally given to violence, but for him, I'm willing to make an exception!

@Farscape One - Thank you! Good points on Parallels, which do tie in to the challenge of finding a character I like better. I do lean towards analytical characters as I do love a bit of detection - thank you Mr Sherlock Holmes - and there wasn't enough mystery-solving in TNG, for me, but I agree that could actually compromise the ep somewhat.

A lot of support for a Geordi-centric Masterpiece Society, and I wholeheartedly agree. They went with the wrong relationship, and the episode flattened out as a result. It doesn't even need to be romantic, just Geordi and Hannah connecting as they deal with the technical issues, while hopefully giving more impetus and weight to the thematic ones than Troi and Connor did.

Crusher is indeed a challenge to find a good episode for; next time I watch through, which will likely be soon, I'll see if any stand out for me. 11001001 is a possibility, if only to not have that faintly queasy, even sleazy sequence of Riker crafing a woman to schmooze. I'm not sure there's any way that moment could have been handled better, as it feels inherently off.

I might not have been too clear about this idea. I know that Crusher isn't the main character in the real episode. I guess my point was, make an episode that's focused on the main cast as usual end up with a minor recurring character saving the day.

Understood, and as I alluded before, I'm all for that. Closest I believe we got was Lower Decks, and that didn't exactly end well for the minor characters.

 

[Farscape One]

Now that you mention Crusher, there is one episode that is already good but would have been even better if you switch out a character.

"Ethics" - take out Dr. Russell and put in Dr. Pulaski. Pulaski would be much more understanding of Worf's decision, but still have the same drive to save lives as Crusher. The difference is Pulaski was not one to impose her ethics and values onto a patient, which while I applaud Crusher's dedication to preserving life, I feel this episode damaged her because it made it look like her values superceded the patient's. Pulaski would not have done that, and it would have made better drama and dialogue if it was between Crusher and Pulaski.

 

[FederationHistorian]

I love this idea! But if the focus is Yar, why not have the main character be...Yar. From another universe, obviously.

Open the episode with a bizarro Enterprise where Yar is still alive. But as the viewer tries to figure out if this is a flashback, or time-travel or what-not, slowly reveal other "off" details (Worf wears a crest instead of a sash; Picard has a bit more hair; and the uniforms look different, in a way the viewer wouldn't instantly notice, until a few close-up shots) laying the groundwork for the reveal that this is a parallel universe. Then, that Tasha falls into the anomaly, and we follow her journey through all the possibilities, including the "main" universe where she's dead.

That works much better. May have a universe where it was Troi instead of Yar that died at the hands of Armus, and a universe where Riker is captain after Wolf 359. Or one where even Yar is captain or the CMO herself.

 

[Mojochi]

Now that you mention Crusher, there is one episode that is already good but would have been even better if you switch out a character.

"Ethics" - take out Dr. Russell and put in Dr. Pulaski. Pulaski would be much more understanding of Worf's decision, but still have the same drive to save lives as Crusher. The difference is Pulaski was not one to impose her ethics and values onto a patient, which while I applaud Crusher's dedication to preserving life, I feel this episode damaged her because it made it look like her values superceded the patient's. Pulaski would not have done that, and it would have made better drama and dialogue if it was between Crusher and Pulaski.

Absolutely agree with this. I've long thought so & even suspect there might've been some intent to have it so, but alas Muldaur did not care for her experience with the show

Crusher & Pulaski's ideals were vastly different enough to have forged an episode where they come to odds. This one isn't entirely befitting of Pulaski though IMHO, if we were to just substitute Pulaski for Russell. Kate isn't nearly as reckless with her patients as Russell was. There's legit malpractice going on in how she's misrepresenting her research to forward it, but with a few script tweaks, I'd totally want to have a Crusher/Pulaski doc-off like this lol

That said, I do agree that Crusher doesn't come off well either in her defiance of patient wishes

This one reminds me of the other similar example of a guest actor that should've been, & that's James Kirk in Too Short A Season, instead of Mark Jameson, which also seems like a vast improvement

 

[Orphalesion]

Now that you mention Crusher, there is one episode that is already good but would have been even better if you switch out a character.

"Ethics" - take out Dr. Russell and put in Dr. Pulaski. Pulaski would be much more understanding of Worf's decision, but still have the same drive to save lives as Crusher. The difference is Pulaski was not one to impose her ethics and values onto a patient, which while I applaud Crusher's dedication to preserving life, I feel this episode damaged her because it made it look like her values superceded the patient's. Pulaski would not have done that, and it would have made better drama and dialogue if it was between Crusher and Pulaski.

As I said multiple times here when I was a child and saw that episode for the first time I thought Dr.Russel was Dr.Pulaski (I also thought Shelby was Yar) and the episode would fit her very well.
That being said I'm also completely on Dr.Crushers side in the episode.

Though I'm also pretty sure if it had been Pulaski instead of Russel, then they would have omitted that scene where she experiments on a dying patient.
Pulaksi might be the Queen of the Space Harpies, but I doubt she'd do that.

 

[Farscape One]

The part about Crusher dressing down Russell about her reckless nature with patients, absolutely on Crusher's side.

But sidelining a patient's beliefs because it is opposite her own? 100% against her. I'm all for saving lives, but it's the patient who gets to decide if they want to live with a disability or end it and not feel like they are a burden. (Full disclosure: had I went through an accident like Worf and was similarly disabled, I would absolutely go with a suicide. I fully feel other people can live with a disability... I'm simply not one of them. This might color my view on this episode, but it's my view nonetheless.)

 

[Mojochi]

(I also thought Shelby was Yar) and the episode would fit her very well.

Oooooooo! I could watch that. Imagine she comes back in Yesterday's Enterprise, & somehow gets to stay at the end, which I like better than that whole Sela timeline nonsense, but she's reassigned away from the D, & then we find out that she goes off & becomes a Borg badass that makes Riker look like he's rotting on the vine. Oh man, that'd be fantastic.

 

[Orphalesion]

Oooooooo! I could watch that. Imagine she comes back in Yesterday's Enterprise, & somehow gets to stay at the end, which I like better than that whole Sela timeline nonsense, but she's reassigned away from the D, & then we find out that she goes off & becomes a Borg badass that makes Riker look like he's rotting on the vine. Oh man, that'd be fantastic.

If we are allowed to move the episodes around we could, theoretically create a little mini-arc for Yar's return. Have her return to the prime timeline through a Tasha-centered version of Parallels set in early season 3, then transfer to another ship, and then have her fill Shelby's role in BoBW

 

[Mojochi]

If we are allowed to move the episodes around we could, theoretically create a little mini-arc for Yar's return. Have her return to the prime timeline through a Tasha-centered version of Parallels set in early season 3, then transfer to another ship, and then have her fill Shelby's role in BoBW

Then imagine after BoBW, Picard has a little leave before he's reinstated, maybe getting his own episode about it, & Riker commands the D with Yar as #1 for a bit. Then, when Picard gets reinstated, Riker takes another command, & Yar stays on as Picard's #1, but before that happens, while Picard is still on leave, one of our interim episodes is the Second Chances situation that introduces Tom Riker, who can now fit into the D crew at the lieutenant rank when Picard comes back... maybe helming for a while or something

That's maybe the best outcome for all three stories I've ever envisioned, BOBW's Riker/Picard conundrum, Yar's return, & Tom Riker replacing Will.

 

[Orphalesion]

Then imagine after BoBW, Picard has a little leave before he's reinstated, maybe getting his own episode about it, & Riker commands the D with Yar as #1 for a bit. Then, when Picard gets reinstated, Riker takes another command, & Yar stays on as Picard's #1, but before that happens, while Picard is still on leave, one of our interim episodes is the Second Chances situation that introduces Tom Riker, who can now fit into the D crew at the lieutenant rank when Picard comes back... maybe helming for a while or something

That's maybe the best outcome for all three stories I've ever envisioned, BOBW's Riker/Picard conundrum, Yar's return, & Tom Riker replacing Will.

Throw in Troi (inspired by all the changes around her and Will and Tasha ranking up) taking the commander test during that time and changing into a standard uniform upon ranking up and we have a deal.

 

[Mojochi]

As much as I like & find Data's Day to be a really good episode as is, did we really learn all that much more about him from it, that we didn't already know, or couldn't have otherwise figured out?

The more I'm chatting in the Troi actually thread, the more I realize that she should've gotten this episode, "a day in the life of", or "life with an empath". She's the one with all kinds of unanswered questions about what life is like with a singular person like her on board. Just how do you quash moments like her & O'Brien's staredown in The Wounded? How does her assessing peers work within the crew dynamic, beyond just her therapy sessions with patients? Is she routinely telling peers about one another's feelings etc...?

Troi's day is in much more need of exploration than Data's imho.

 

[CuriousCaitian]

Apologies for not posting in the thread for a little while; rough patch. Delighted to see it's still bubbling along, and the AU you're collectively cooking up is seriously enticing. Wish I could think of a way to contribute, but nothing occurs as of yet, not least since the things I could mention have been addressed already. Actually, one possible exception: Wesley. Would this affect him, and if so, how?

And, for the umpteenth time, I'm nodding vigorously to a suggestion by @Mojochi; Data's Day was a fun episode, but felt like it featured him only because they wanted a Data ep, not because he was the best choice for the story/idea. Troi's Day (or suitably alliterative alternative) would definitely have been an improvement. This episode might actually be the best examplar of the thread concept, because you could plug any character in, and their respective perspective would be at the very least an interesting new angle on the Enterprise. Maybe they should all have had a Day.

 

[Farscape One]

Some title ideas for you...

"Worf's World"
"Geordi's Gaze"
"Troi's Troubles"
"Riker's Ramblings"
"Picard's Perspective"
"Crusher's Calls"

 

[Mojochi]

Deanna's Day?